For small businesses starting a new year, it’s crucial to understand:
- The wider digital marketing trends anticipated for the industry, and
- The current dominant tactical strategies already being implemented.
The first is for preparedness and achieving results in the long run, while the second focuses on immediate relevance and instant results.
With that said, continue reading to discover the 13 most effective marketing strategies tailored for small businesses in 2023.
Table of contents
Top PPC Marketing Strategies for 2024
Although a multi-channel approach is generally recommended for paid media, these particular strategies concentrate on search and social media marketing.
1. Broaden Your Reach on Facebook…
Privacy changes are impacting all areas of marketing. However, Facebook advertising is experiencing a noticeable decrease in audience sizes - both those selectable within the platform and remarketing audiences from website traffic. Providing the algorithm with sufficient data is crucial. So, whether you’re maintaining campaigns or aiming to expand your Facebook ads, maintain broad audience targeting. This can be achieved by:
- Combining multiple interests.
- Targeting users based on pages with substantial followings within your niche.
- Expanding your lookalike audiences from 1% to 5%.
For more in-depth advice and strategies, explore our 2024 Facebook advertising trends article.
2. …But Not on Search
In case you missed it, search advertising’s cost per lead has risen sharply over the past year. Our comprehensive report (You can download the PDF here) highlights several reasons for this, including broad match keywords becoming even broader. Google is not only encouraging the use of broad match but also displaying ads more widely across search results pages, even those lacking commercial intent. Therefore, the strategy is: focus on phrase and exact match keywords while diligently maintaining your negative keyword lists.
Michelle Morgan provides valuable insights on using broad match with Smart Bidding in her analysis.
3. Experiment with Click-to-Messenger Ads
Andrew Hutchinson’s Social Media Today article indicates a shift in social media behavior, with users posting less to their entire following and favoring smaller group interactions and direct messages. While Andrew doubts users’ eagerness to message brands directly, Hootsuite’s 2024 social media trends report extensively covers social customer service through chatbots. Therefore, experimenting with click-to-Messenger and click-to-WhatsApp ads might be worthwhile to see if they effectively reach your audience on platforms they frequently use.
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Leverage Brett McHale’s guidance on transforming Messenger campaigns into lead-generating chatbots for your business.
4. Embrace Automation
It’s easy to resist automation, particularly with Google’s continuous push towards it. However, many aspects of automation can be beneficial, as long as we don’t entirely depend on them. The key is knowing which features to utilize effectively.
- Avoid Smart campaigns.
- Steer clear of broad match combined with Smart Bidding.
- Responsive search ads are very effective (and your only option) when used correctly.
- Automated bidding can be useful with the right approach.
- Performance Max is suitable for certain businesses and budgets.
It’s crucial to remember that automation and machine learning are essential for privacy-conscious targeting and reporting solutions. Google is developing these as we transition away from third-party cookies.
The takeaway is that automation and machine learning will only become more prevalent. Therefore, investing time to understand how and where to leverage them effectively for your business is crucial.
Free guide Top SEO & Website Strategies for 2024
Despite constant search engine result page (SERP) changes, SEO remains a relatively stable marketing channel. Our goal is to create valuable content, while Google’s is to evolve the SERP to showcase it effectively. However, keep in mind some adjustments for this year.
5. Enhance the Alignment Between Your SEO & CRO
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) will replace Universal Analytics (UA) in July. To begin, ensure you set up your GA4 property promptly. Due to its entirely different model, your UA data won’t be accessible as historical data within GA4. While this is a significant drawback, this new model offers numerous benefits, such as more customer-centric reporting and measurement. For instance:
- You can view visitor journeys across multiple devices within a single property.
- It includes customer lifecycle reports.
- It provides machine learning insights and predictions related to purchases, customer churn, and revenue.
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This will help us prioritize quality over quantity. To leverage this, GA4 requires revisiting your SEO metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) and linking them more closely to your conversion rate optimization (CRO) and revenue objectives.
This means understanding how to assign conversion values (even if you’re not an e-commerce business). Learn more about UA vs. GA4 in our comparison.
6. Emphasize Niche Expertise
According to FirstPageSage, there have been some weighting adjustments for various Google ranking factors. Notably, niche expertise has gained importance, and trustworthiness has emerged as a new factor.
While not an exact science, even factors that “decreased” in weight remain crucial. Additionally, Google updated its search quality rater guidelines in July, which redefined low-quality pages, and rolled out its new helpful content update system in August.
These all indicate a growing emphasis on establishing expertise within your niche. What does this entail?
- Create high-quality content not just on any industry topic, but on those directly related to your core offerings.
- Engage internal and industry subject matter experts as blog authors and optimize their author bios.
- Share your posts on social media and encourage influencer authors to do the same for increased social signals.
- Utilize pillar pages and internal linking to establish topic authority and improve overall rankings. Speaking of ranking factors…take a moment to check that your business listings are accurate and up to date.
7. Simplify Your SEO Content
While creating in-depth content within your niche is essential, don’t confuse it with overly complicated writing. This means: Maintain Focus on Cluster Pages. Consider the example below, showcasing a Google Ads ultimate guide pillar page and its associated cluster pages.
While your pillar page should have a section on Google Ads costs, your Google Ads costs cluster page doesn’t require H2 headings like “What is Google Ads” and “Why is Google Ads important.” Ensure your cluster pages remain tightly focused on the primary keyword.
Maintain Clean and Organized Sections. In my recent editing experience, I’ve found myself reorganizing content frequently. Writers submit pieces with valuable information, but the sections often overlap excessively. For instance, I’d receive a beginner’s guide with:
- Excessive “what is” information in the introduction.
- Too many benefits discussed in the “what is” section, even though a dedicated benefits section follows immediately.
- Numerous valuable tips in the “how-to” section that belong in the “tips” section. I often found myself relocating content to its appropriate section and sometimes removing it entirely due to repetition. When writing for SEO, consider the perspective of someone seeking specific answers, not general knowledge. They search for something, choose the article they believe best addresses their query, and then scan the article for that answer. The desire is less about consuming and absorbing information and more about quickly finding the required information and moving on. Therefore, maintain clear and distinct sections, and enhance navigation with a table of contents and clear headings. This not only satisfies readers but also helps Google surface specific answers in rich results and featured snippets. This maximizes the chances of each content piece and section ranking well on the SERP and providing value to your target audience.
8. Utilize Popups for First-Party Data Collection
The separation from third-party cookies has been a drawn-out process. For the past two years, we’ve emphasized the importance of building your first-party data. Hopefully, you’ve heeded this advice, as a cookieless future is on the horizon. But practically speaking, what does this entail? Effective email list building is one of the best ways to gather first-party data. While there are various methods to achieve this on your website, popups remain highly effective, and here’s how:
- Develop gated content (valuable guides and free tools) aligned with your blog’s main categories.
- Promote this content through popups tailored to each blog category.
- Require users to complete a form with sufficient information for your lead scoring system.
You now possess lists of leads for nurturing through email campaigns and uploading as seed audiences for lookalike targeting. How do I know this works? We utilize popups ourselves, and it’s the primary driver of qualified lead generation on our website! Discover how to create non-intrusive, conversion-boosting popups in our guide.
Top Email & Social Media Marketing Strategies for 2024
Email and social media remain the most effective channels for engaging with current and potential customers. Let’s explore some strategies.
9. Implement “Choose Your Own Adventure” Emails
Interactive emails are a recurring theme in current email marketing trend predictions. These allow users to take action directly within the email—voting, reviewing, purchasing, etc.—without immediately navigating to a landing page. While this might be more feasible for larger brands, you can adopt a “choose your own adventure” approach with your emails. You can still have a central call to action but tailor it to different user personas or make it more appealing with various approaches. Here’s an example from Hootsuite. It states: “Click your biggest priority for next year to unlock key insights and actionable steps you can start taking now.”
Notice how this also enhances the email’s personalization and inclusivity.
10. Approach Every Platform Like TikTok
Traditional social media platforms are facing an identity crisis as TikTok’s popularity surges. It’s uncertain whether they’ll differentiate themselves or adapt to resemble TikTok, but currently, the latter seems more likely. Therefore, even if Facebook and Instagram remain your primary channels, create content with the understanding that your audience expects a TikTok-like experience. This means focusing on:
- Engaging, short-form video content (Reels, Stories, Shorts). Utilize our Instagram Story templates!
- Authenticity (think somewhat unpolished but still tasteful).
- Capturing users’ attention from the start.
- Maintaining engagement through entertainment (you can still be educational while entertaining).
The TikTok influencer talking head style is effective across all social platforms.
For additional guidance, visit our post on boosting Instagram engagement or explore these YouTube video ideas.
11. Prioritize Social Engine Optimization
According to this Tech Crunch article, 40% of Gen Z prefers searching on platforms like TikTok and Instagram over Google. Yes, it’s only 40%, and yes, it’s Gen Z, but the trend is clear. Soon, Gen Z will constitute the largest consumer segment.
Therefore, start treating social platforms like search engines—for local and social searches. This involves meticulously categorizing and classifying everything using location tags, user tags, map pins, hashtags, and other relevant tools. By doing so, you’ll build a repository of ranking signals for the future when it matters most.
Top Overall Marketing Strategies for 2024
As previously mentioned, search advertising costs have increased—partly due to Google Ads platform changes, but also because macroeconomic factors have made consumers more cost-conscious, potentially impacting conversion rates. Consider this broader theme for your overall 2024 marketing strategy, not just paid search. Here are two adaptation strategies.
12. Develop a Comprehensive Full-Funnel Strategy
This isn’t a new concept, but it’s more crucial than ever. While consumers might be more cautious about spending and hesitant to convert, it doesn’t mean they’re incapable or unwilling, even for non-essential purchases. As highlighted in GWI’s 2023 Consumer Trends Report, “A cost of living crisis doesn’t mean consumers won’t treat themselves.”
Therefore, an overly bottom-funnel conversion focus might present challenges. A full-funnel approach allows you to capture leads and customers with lower-friction offers and nurture them through the funnel. This doesn’t involve pressuring them but demonstrating value and building trust over time, so they feel confident about making a worthwhile investment. This is the essence of perceived value.
Furthermore, with more ads appearing on non-commercial SERPs, advertising upper-funnel offers like ebooks could be beneficial.
13. Emphasize Identity & Expression
With Gen Z’s growing consumer influence, increasing diversity and inclusion efforts among brands, and the individualized nature of social media shaping our lives, the significance of identity and expression is undeniable. People desire to feel heard, seen, and valued. Incorporating this concept into your overall brand identity will be crucial in 2024 and beyond. Therefore, ensure you:
- Represent diverse identities in your imagery (gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, physical ability).
- Actively seek customer feedback and conduct regular customer appreciation campaigns.
- Encourage your audience to embrace their uniqueness, chart their own course, and own their narratives.
The Best Marketing Strategies for 2024 (Recap)
As evident, leveraging search engines, social media, email, and a blend of paid and organic strategies remains the optimal approach. Here’s a summary of the most effective marketing strategies for 2024:
- Embrace broad targeting on Facebook.
- Maintain precision in search campaigns.
- Experiment with click-to-Messenger ads.
- Strategically adopt automation.
- Align your SEO and CRO efforts.
- Focus on showcasing niche expertise.
- Simplify your SEO content for clarity.
- Utilize popups to grow your first-party data.
- Implement engaging “choose your own adventure” emails.
- Adopt a TikTok-inspired approach across platforms.
- Prioritize social engine optimization.
- Implement a comprehensive full-funnel strategy.
- Emphasize identity and expression in your branding.
Best of the Best Marketing Strategies
Curious about past or future years? Here’s our Best Marketing Strategies archive:
- The Best Marketing Strategies to Try in 2019
- The Best Marketing Strategies to Try in 2020
- The Best Marketing Strategies for 2021
- The Best Marketing Strategies to Get Results in 2022
- The Best Marketing Strategies for Success in 2024